Deeplinks Blog posts about Innovation

If the messages in EFF's inbox today are anything to go by, a lot of people are upset and angry — with good reason — over Sony's announcement that it is going to disable a feature that allows people to run GNU/Linux and other operating systems on their PlayStation 3 consoles.

Today, after three years of litigation, the Viacom v. YouTube combatants finally publicly released their briefs (Viacom's; YouTube's; Class Action Plaintiffs') in what most expect to be the main event in the case, namely, cross-motions for summary judgment (for the non-lawyers: a summary judgment motion asks the court to rule that the case is such a slam dunk in your favor that no trial is necessary).

Masnick writes that the mainstream entertainment industry's formula for contending with the Internet — desperately trying to invent "new copyright laws or new licensing schemes or new DRM or new lawsuits or new ways to shut down file sharing" — is counterproductive.

However, there is another solution. Stop worrying and learn to embrace the business models that are already helping musicians make plenty of money and use file sharing to their advantage, even in the absence of licensing or copyright enforcement.

Of all the bands experimenting with the Internet and its role in enriching their creativity and commerce, OK Go has become one of the canonical success stories, having produced two low-budget, immensely successful viral videos ("A Million Ways" and "Here It Goes Again" in 2006) that together drew more than 50 million views and broadened their fan base considerably. With their status as the de facto princes of the viral music video, imagine the fans' surprise in seeing OK Go's new video branded with this handy instruction to anyone interested in spreading the word: "Embedding disabled by request."

In a revealing rant detailing the modern woes of a band under the thumb of a major label, OK Go singer Damian Kulash writes:

Today marks the deadline for the first round of comments to the FCC regarding its proposed "net neutrality" regulations. Here's a quick summary of what EFF had to say in its comments to the Commission: